Which thief are you?

All three of the synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke give an account of these two thieves who were crucified either side of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew and Mark tell us how both of these criminals reviled Jesus on the Cross [1], but in Luke 23:32-43, the Gospel writer Luke tells us about a remarkable turn of events, something changed in the heart of that criminal in his final moments on the cross.

THE REBUKE

The first evidence we see of this change comes as this converted criminal rebukes the other criminal, who had railed at Jesus saying “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (v39) But the other criminal rebuked him saying “Do you not fear God?” (v40)

Do you not fear God?

What a pertinent question that is for the world we live in today, where people will often mock and blaspheme God, and live their lives in direct rebellion and opposition to Almighty God. So many people think that they can get away with doing whatever they please, without any accountability. But if they feared God, they would know that everything is seen and will one day be judged.

On two occasions in his Gospel, Luke records Jesus saying:

“There is nothing that is hidden that will not be made manifest, or in darkness that will not be brought to light.” [2]

Everything is going to come out in the wash!

Ecclesiastes also warns us:

“The end of the matter: all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” [3]

There is nowhere to hide with God, that is what the thief on the Cross in the last moments of his life suddenly understood, he had the fear of God and saw the great foolishness of rejecting and mocking the Son of God, he realised that both of them were in big trouble — “do you not fear God?"

How foolish to mock the Son of God when He is right there in front of him — “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all you take refuge in Him.” [4]

The thief on the cross was convicted by the Holy Spirit, and his eyes were opened right at the last minute, and he suddenly started speaking sense. But the other thief would carry on cursing and insulting the Son of God right until his last breath, he didn’t care — his hatred of God was so strong that he would carry on right to the bitter end.

THE REPENTANCE

Yet here is the thief on the cross, who is suddenly converted in his dying moments, who sees himself for who he really is and the Saviour for who He is — and he confesses, “I deserve this, I’m being punished for the wrong that I have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Salvation always has to begin with a right view of ourselves and God.

John Calvin right at the beginning of his Institutes begins by saying: “All the best wisdom we possess, the most true and sound wisdom, is in two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.” [5]

That is the bottom line of what is happening with the thief on the Cross, he suddenly sees who He is and who Christ is, and, he sees something that the other thief has missed completely. He knows that he deserves his punishment, but that Jesus doesn’t. He has a fear of God and an awareness of his own sin. There is also the recognition that Jesus was not like him and the other criminal on the Cross.

Unlike the other thief, this fear of God brought him to Jesus in God-fearing repentance and faith.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (v42)

The thief calls Jesus by His name — Jesus, which means “God saves”, and he asks Jesus for salvation, having repented of his sin, he is now asking Jesus to save him, and trusting Him for the free gift of eternal life.

TWO REQUESTS FOR SALVATION

But notice also, that both of the thieves asked Jesus to save them, and their requests sounded almost the same, both of them refer to Him by name, and both of them ask Jesus to save them:

“Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (v39)

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (v42)

They are both requests for salvation, but with very different attitudes behind them!

One thief asked in angry unbelief, the other asked in humble faith.

One thief asked Jesus to prove that He was the Christ, the other thief knew that He could save him.

One thief wanted Jesus to save Himself before He could save anybody else, the other thief knew that Jesus had to die first, before rising to His kingdom.

One thief wanted to be free from physically suffering, the other thief wanted salvation beyond the grave. [6]

Which thief are you?

What is so remarkable about this confession of faith is not how late he was saved, but how much faith this thief had when he finally came to Christ. He believed that Jesus was the King of a coming kingdom, he also believed in life after death, an immortal life in the world to come.

This dying thief believed that the Saviour dying on the Cross next to him could get him into the kingdom of God, he also believed in the power of the resurrection, that this was not the end for the Lord Jesus. As he was hanging on his cross the converted thief was receiving the punishment for his earthly crimes, but he would also have to face the final judgement and a lost eternity. But at the Cross of Christ, Jesus was being punished in the place of this thief and for all who put their trust in Him, so that we could receive the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life.

“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” [7]

THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

Then there is the Saviour’s response to the thief:

“And Jesus said to him; Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (v43)

There is the assurance of salvation - “truly.” Salvation is guaranteed, the Saviour has said so! The converted thief had been snatched from the jaws of hell in his dying moments, and would now go to paradise to be with the Lord.

The assurance of salvation is also personal - “Truly, I say to you.” Salvation is more than just escaping the judgement, it is to be brought into the presence of God. The joy of heaven is to be with Jesus, who does not say to him “you will be in paradise” but “you will be with Me in paradise.” This is personal forgiveness and fellowship with Christ.

There is also the immediacy of salvation - “today.” For the believer, after death their spirit will go straight to be with the Lord, in the words of the apostle Paul, they are “away from the body and present with the Lord.” [8]

But tragically, for the unbeliever, their spirit will go straight to hell where they will suffer whilst they wait for the final judgement, and a lost eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Jesus went to the Cross so that you and I would not face hell and judgement, but be freely offered forgiveness and eternal life with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Which thief are you? What side of the Cross are you on - the believing side, or the unbelieving side?

Footnotes:

[1] See Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32

[2] See Luke 8:17; 12:2

[3] Ecclesiastes 12:13

[4] See Psalm 2:11-12

[5] John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion” Chapter 1 “The Knowledge of God” (p1)

[6] I am indebted to Philip Ryken for this insight from his commentary on Luke (Philip G. Ryken, REC Luke Vol 2, p602, P&R Publishing, 2009)

[7] 2 Corinthians 5:21

[8] 2 Corinthians 5:8

*All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV)